NASCAR’s oldest former driver

Lloyd Moore, a NASCAR winner in 1950 and the racing circuit’s oldest former driver, has died. He was 95.

Moore died in his sleep Sunday in Frewsburg, N.Y., in the home where he was born June 8, 1912, according to NASCAR’s website. Moore won his lone NASCAR title in Winchester, Ind., and finished fourth in the 1950 standings. He drove from 1949 to 1955 in the Grand National stock car series against Lee Petty, Glenn “Fireball” Roberts and others.

“Lloyd was a connection to the origin of NASCAR,” driver Richard Petty said in a statement. “Talking to him was like taking a trip down memory lane for me, because he raced against my dad. I still have memories of those races. He would come by the house after a lot of the races because he and daddy were good friends.”

The son of a farmer, Moore was a school bus driver in the early 1930s and worked as a mechanic in a Studebaker garage. For 17 years, he ran the school bus garage for the Frewsburg Central School District, about 80 miles south of Buffalo, until retiring in 1974.

In an interview with the Buffalo News last year, he said he enjoyed watching what NASCAR had become but lightheartedly complained that there was “too much baloney,” with the hourlong pre-race show and sponsorships.

In his day, he said, he would drive overnight to a race, unload the trunk, then roll the same car out on the track.

“We just stuck a number on the side, took ‘em down and raced ‘em,” Moore said. “Today, they talk about putting in a half-pound of air. When we raced, we just made sure we had air in the tires. The suits these guys wear -- they’re spotted with advertisements.”

Moore is survived by his wife of 61 years, Virginia; six daughters; 14 grandchildren; and 32 great-grandchildren.